Johnson puts ref right on laws

Andrew Johnson has accused the referee Alan Wiley of failing to apply the laws of the game after he was deprived of the chance to strengthen Everton's claims on the fourth Champions League place. The England international had what appeared a legitimate late goal disallowed during the 0-0 draw at Blackburn Rovers on Saturday when, having returned from an offside position, he converted James Vaughan's pass from behind the goalkeeper Brad Friedel but in front of at least two home defenders.

"It's so disappointing as we should have all three points," said Johnson yesterday. "It was a perfectly good goal. It's not as if it was a tight decision. I was onside by three or four yards and it is just a bad mistake from the referee. We are disappointed because we had a couple of good chances to win it. We dominated the game. We wanted to open a gap between us and the teams below us." Johnson was given offside by the assistant referee and believes Wiley misinterpreted the situation.

Johnson said: "He [the referee] said if the goalkeeper is our side of me then there needs to be two defenders keeping me onside but there was the goalkeeper and three defenders keeping me onside.

The disallowed goal was not the only contentious issue involving Wiley at Ewood Park, where Zurab Khizanishvili escaped with a foul inside the penalty area on Johnson and David Dunn was spared a second booking for a deliberate handball. Dunn later cleared a Phil Jagielka header off his own goalline.

Everton will have Yakubu Ayegbeni and Joseph Yobo available for this weekend's visit of Reading after Nigeria's quarter-final exit from the African Cup of Nations but Steven Pienaar could be out for several weeks after he injured his ankle while on duty for South Africa.